I live in Greenwich Village, so the galleries we’ll visit on my first-ever Greenwich Village gallery tour on Sat. March 30 will be my neighborhood galleries. Therefore, I have somewhat of a personal attachment to these spaces. The Village galleries are ones that are off the beaten path of the bustling Chelsea gallery scene and lately also the Lower East Side. Indeed, two of the galleries that will be on my tour were originally Chelsea galleries that decided to leave for quieter pastures, and another one was originally on the Lower East Side. That doesn’t make them any less ambitious – by now they’re all internationally renowned, and are the subject of regular New York Times reviews. It’s just that now that they have nothing to prove, they’re looking to be a bit more relaxed. And they couldn’t have chosen a more charming neighborhood than they did.

Other Greenwich Village galleries have been around even before Chelsea was a major scene, including a gallery associated with a humongous Greenwich Village artists’ residence, that allow all their visual artist residents to show on a rotating basis. This non-profit space is the ultimate local West Village scene. One of the artists in that gallery, currently on view, has agreed to speak to our group when we visit his show of paintings. Other highlights on this tour: new paintings by a female artist who recently had an entire floor at the New Museum, and a British artist’s inventive fabric art sculptures.

For my participants who have gone on tour after ever-changing tour of the world’s greatest galleries in Chelsea, and the world’s future great galleries on the Lower East Side, my Greenwich Village tour will be a chance to take a deep breath and re-charge. To slow down and savor high quality contemporary art in a setting that is less cut-throat and competitive. I welcome you to join me.

Rafael Risemberg, Ph.D, Director
New York Gallery Tours